Key powers and decision-making abilities must be devolved to those who best understand the West Midlands if the region is to achieve its “bold and ambitious” plans for the future. That was the message from Paul Faulkner, chief executive of Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce (GBCC), when he addressed a fringe meeting of the West Midlands Combined Authority at the Conservative Party conference.
Mr Faulkner said that having come through a very hard recession, the West Midlands was now establishing a sound economic base and he outlined “plus points” such as its exporting achievements, 130,000 businesses contributing £80 billion of GVA to the UK economy, the recently-opened Grand Central and New Street station project, an extended Birmingham Airport and the region being the most entrepreneurial outside London and the most popular destination in the country for people relocating out of the capital.
“In fact,” he added, “last year almost twice as many people moved to the West Midlands as headed to Greater Manchester – a pattern that will only increase further as the likes of HSBC decide to move the headquarters of their new retail bank to the region along with thousands of jobs, as people seek an attractive and affordable alternation to the capital.
“The West Midlands is currently at the start of a period that many people in the area, myself included, believe could be a true renaissance for the region, and the devolution agenda is something that individuals and businesses alike, throughout the West Midlands, want to grasp with both hands in order to help fuel our future growth.
“The fact is that things are happening across the West Midlands. We now want to build on this sound base and the opportunities that are developing in front of us, and want key powers and decision making abilities that will help shape our future, devolved to people who best understand our region.
“We are aiming high, and, as the Chancellor said, our aims are bold.”
Mr Faulkner added: “The West Midlands Combined Authority is designed to be a public and private partnership, with our metropolitan authorities and LEPs, supported by the key regional business bodies such as the Chamber of Commerce, all working together in a way that makes us different to other established or aspiring Combined Authorities.
“We believe our Combined Authority should span the three regional local enterprise areas that make up our functional economic geography, and include our population of four million people, making the West Midlands Combined Authority the largest such body in the country.”
Mr Faulkner said: “The scale of what we want to achieve is ambitious and bold. But our belief is that for the region to compete globally and to maximise its contribution to the UK’s general prosperity then size really does matter.
“We are ready to take on the responsibility to both attract investment and generate income that we can keep and recycle back into the region’s economy, and in doing so help position the West Midlands as the region that will truly power the engine of the UK economy in the years to come.”
